EXCLUSIVE:U2 bassist Adam Clayton’s Irish showband documentary series Ballroom Blitz is set for an international launch.

Rock star Adam Clayton is set to explore the unique phenomenon of the Irish showband scene in the documentary series Ballroom Blitz. The series, produced by Dublin-based Sideline Productions, has been commissioned by Irish pubcaster RTÉ. Seasoned international executive Michael Murphy will be attending MIPCOM to seek out a distributor for the show.

Bassist Adam Clayton and Bono of U2 at a press conference January 30, 2002 at the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, days before their live performance during Super Bowl XXXVI’s Halftime Show. (Photo by Theo Wargo/WireImage)

Irish showbands captivated young audiences during the 1960s, a period of growth and prosperity in Ireland. Typically consisting of seven or eight members, these bands featured dynamic horn sections and blended waltzes, Irish music, and jazz with the pop hits of the era, creating a lively and diverse entertainment experience.

The Irish showband story has a significant U.S. dimension. Sixty years before U2 played Las Vegas at the Sphere in 2024, Irish showbands were entertaining American audiences with residencies in Vegas and filling Irish ballrooms in cities like New York, Boston, and Chicago. Their success in the U.S. was orchestrated by the charismatic Bill Fuller, who eventually owned over thirty ballrooms across Ireland, Britain, and the U.S.

Icons like Van Morrison and Rory Gallagher started their careers in Irish showbands before moving on to write and perform their own material. In Ballroom Blitz, Adam Clayton explores how these showbands were part of a broader social and cultural shift, as ballrooms emerged, giving the younger generation a space to meet and let loose.

The documentary also covers the tragic events of July 1975, when three members of Ireland’s most popular showband, The Miami, were killed by a British Army patrol in Northern Ireland. This occurred a year before U2 formed, and in Ballroom Blitz, Clayton examines how showbands played a crucial role in the development of the Irish music industry.

Michael Murphy, the former General Manager at Beyond Distribution and an executive producer on Ballroom Blitz, will be in Cannes to initiate international sales by securing a distributor for the series. The documentary was directed by Billy McGrath, who has previously worked on music documentaries like Citizens of Boomtown, which focused on Irish band The Boomtown Rats.